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Age and Smoking Less Important Than Other Factors for Mesothelioma Outcomes
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Age and Smoking Less Important Than Other Factors for Mesothelioma Outcomes

ByAlex Strauss

A newly published study suggests that a mesothelioma patient’s age and smoking history is less important to prognosis than certain biomarkers or what treatment they choose. The study comes from scientists at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City.  They performed a retrospective analysis of 136 patients with pleural mesothelioma. The goal was to see which factors played the biggest role in outcomes. Age and smoking were among seven factors evaluated. It turns out they were not the most important ones.  Who Gets Pleural Mesothelioma? Malignant mesothelioma is the cancer most closely associated with asbestos exposure. Most people who get it have lived or worked around asbestos. Mesothelioma can take decades to develop. Most patients are over 65. …

Estrogen Signaling Genes May be Secret to Survival for Women with Mesothelioma
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Estrogen Signaling Genes May be Secret to Survival for Women with Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Scientists think they now have a better understanding of why most women with mesothelioma live longer than men.  Malignant mesothelioma is four times more common in men than in women. But many studies show that women with mesothelioma do better than men after treatment.  Researchers with The International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston say the difference is in the genes. Their new study focused on the potentially protective role of estrogen signaling genes in female patients. The RERG Gene and Mesothelioma Survival In the latest study, researchers analyzed genetic data and survival in groups of mesothelioma patients. The groups included both men and women with mesothelioma. The goal was to determine what aspect of the women’s…

The Ongoing Effort to Downplay the Dangers of Asbestos
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The Ongoing Effort to Downplay the Dangers of Asbestos

ByAlex Strauss

A pair of occupational medicine experts say the dangers of asbestos – particularly its ability to cause cancers like malignant mesothelioma – are still being downplayed by those who mine and sell it.  The report appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology. The authors are experts in the field from Hamburg University in Germany and Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia. Scientists around the world have warned about the dangers of asbestos for decades. Asbestos is responsible for tens of thousands of mesothelioma deaths every year. In the US, about 2,500 people die of mesothelioma annually because of asbestos exposure. Early Recognition of the Dangers of Asbestos Asbestos is a fibrous mineral…

Radiotherapy Outcomes in Mesothelioma Linked to Metabolism
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Radiotherapy Outcomes in Mesothelioma Linked to Metabolism

ByAlex Strauss

Italian researchers say metabolic markers may hold the key to predicting radiotherapy outcomes in people with mesothelioma. Metabolism is the process by which cells produce energy. Metabolism is necessary for cancer cells to live. Mesothelioma cells metabolize faster than healthy cells.  Radiotherapy affects cancer cell metabolism. A new study shows that compounds produced during metabolism may impact radiotherapy outcomes. It suggests that a patient’s metabolic profile – or metabolome – could help doctors choose good candidates for radiation. Radical Hemithoracic Radiotherapy and Mesothelioma  Pleural mesothelioma is a rare lung-related cancer caused by asbestos exposure. There is no cure for mesothelioma. Most mesothelioma patients have a combination of therapies. Radiation is one of the methods doctors use to help slow its…

Epithelioid Subtype Leads to Longer Survival Regardless of Treatment
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Epithelioid Subtype Leads to Longer Survival Regardless of Treatment

ByAlex Strauss

Danish researchers say people with the epithelioid subtype of pleural mesothelioma tend to live longer than those with other subtypes, even if they don’t receive treatment.  The study is the latest to confirm what prior research suggests: that epithelial mesothelioma is more survivable than other subtypes.  In the newest report, mesothelioma patients with the epithelioid subtype lived longer, even when they were not good candidates for curative treatment. Mesothelioma Subtypes and Symptoms Pleural mesothelioma is a fast-growing cancer on the membrane around the lungs. Exposure to asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma.  There are three main mesothelioma subtypes. They are the epithelioid subtype, the sarcomatoid subtype, and the biphasic subtype. Epithelioid mesothelioma is the most common subtype. Sarcomatoid is…

Autoimmune Disease and Mesothelioma: Will it Impact Survival?
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Autoimmune Disease and Mesothelioma: Will it Impact Survival?

ByAlex Strauss

A new lung cancer study suggests that having an autoimmune disease will not necessarily lead to shorter cancer survival. This could be good news for pleural mesothelioma patients suffering from autoimmune disorders. Pleural mesothelioma is a lung-related disease that has many characteristics in common with lung cancer.  The new study comes from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. It included 177 lung cancer patients who also had immune diseases. Doctors compared their survival with a control group of lung cancer patients.   They determined that having an autoimmune disease did not negatively impact lung cancer survival. In fact, some of those patients lived longer than those with healthy immune systems.  What is an Autoimmune Disease? An autoimmune disease is…

WHO to Recognize Fourth Mesothelioma Subtype
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WHO to Recognize Fourth Mesothelioma Subtype

ByAlex Strauss

The World Health Organization will soon recognize mesothelioma in situ as a fourth mesothelioma subtype.  The 2015 WHO classification of pleural mesothelioma includes three histological subtypes. Pathologists can tell the difference between the subtypes by looking at the cells under a microscope. Each subtype has a slightly different cell shape, growth pattern, and nuclear characteristics.  The proposed fourth mesothelioma subtype is a very early form of mesothelioma. Previous studies suggest that it may be a precursor to invasive mesothelioma. If patients know they have it, they may have years to try to keep mesothelioma from developing. Differences Between the Subtypes Pleural mesothelioma is a very rare type of cancer. Only about 2,500 people in the US receive a mesothelioma diagnosis…

Asbestos in Agriculture May Be Hidden Mesothelioma Risk
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Asbestos in Agriculture May Be Hidden Mesothelioma Risk

ByAlex Strauss

Occupational health researchers in Italy say asbestos exposure in agricultural products and equipment may present a hidden mesothelioma risk for farm workers.  The study appears in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.  Agriculture is not an industry typically associated with asbestos exposure. But the new study suggests that there may be more of this hidden mesothelioma risk on farms than previously thought.  Occupational Mesothelioma Exposure Malignant mesothelioma is an occupational disease. Most people diagnosed with this rare cancer worked in an industry that used asbestos. The longer and heavier the exposure, the higher the risk for mesothelioma.  Asbestos was mostly a hidden mesothelioma risk until the 1950s. Mining companies produced asbestos for many industries. The construction industry…

Immunotherapy with Keytruda for Mesothelioma: A New Case Report
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Immunotherapy with Keytruda for Mesothelioma: A New Case Report

ByAlex Strauss

  There’s more encouraging news about immunotherapy with Keytruda for people with pleural mesothelioma. The latest report comes from the University of Kansas School of Medicine.  A doctor in the orthopaedic department at the school has malignant pleural mesothelioma. He and three colleagues recently published news of his “prompt and exceptionally favorable” response to firstline treatment with pembrolizumab.  Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Several studies suggest that adding immunotherapy with Keytruda to other mesothelioma treatments may improve outcomes.  But the new case report indicates that Keytruda could also be a good firstline option for some mesothelioma patients.  How Immunotherapy with Keytruda Works Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system against the cancer….

Mesothelioma and COVID-19 Have Similar Psychological Challenges
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Mesothelioma and COVID-19 Have Similar Psychological Challenges

ByAlex Strauss

Researchers in Italy say malignant mesothelioma and COVID-19 present patients with similar psychological challenges. In both cases, group therapy may help. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lung lining. COVID-19 is the respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus. The two illnesses may not seem to have much in common.  But psychology researchers at the University of Turin say there are similarities between mesothelioma and COVID-19. They say understanding how mesothelioma affects patients psychologically could help providers support people with COVID-19.  Coping with Pleural Mesothelioma and COVID-19 Pleural mesothelioma is usually the result of asbestos exposure. Most people who receive a mesothelioma diagnosis either worked with asbestos or lived near it. Many of them had no idea…